Can Public Art Save New York’s Grittiest Bus Terminal? Hyperallergic Dec 2022, Billie Anania
Chitra Ganesh’s “Scorpion Gesture” mural (Billy Anania/Hyperallergic)
New York City’s Port Authority building has never really been known for its good looks. Rather, the Midtown bus terminal has garnered a reputation for its chaotic grit — and the overwhelming feeling that, at any moment, your bus might leave without you.
In the last few years, however, leadership has been working with local arts organizations to improve aesthetic conditions for the 225,000+ commuters who pass through each day. The most recent effort from Times Square Arts invited contemporary artists from its Midnight Moment series to adapt billboard-size artworks into murals across 11 vacant advertising spaces at the terminal. Works by contributing artists Pamela Council, Chitra Ganesh, Cory Arcangel, Takeshi Murata, Shantell Martin, Zina Saro-Wiwa, Jennifer West, Krista Kim, and Jeffrey Gibson are on view across two floors of Port Authority’s North and South wings through April 2023.